Fat Chance Ch. 03

Using the bank name list Gordon had supplied, Max had found out from the hotel staff what rooms had been assigned to each guest. He had already installed all the surveillance cameras in the suites and all of the standard rooms which were expected to be used by the bank staff at the weekend. He had installed the Mac version in Marshall-Hobbs' suite just for my benefit. He had tested all the PC versions and they worked perfectly. He insisted I check my version out on my Mac, I did and it worked also worked perfectly. Max was actually impressed by the marginally better graphics. Max then drove back to his shop, as his assistant had opened first thing in the morning and he wanted to check that his store was running all right.

This left me at a bit of a loose end during the rest of Thursday, so I enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then walked around the conference centre, familiarising myself with all the room locations and the assembly points for fire evacuations, which we had planned for Friday night. I also noted the positions of CCTV cameras, but there were very few about, plus all the fire alarm locations.

Then I hired a car locally and drove back to park by Maisie's bank late in the afternoon to check on Maisie's movements. Her car was parked in the car park. About seven in the evening, Maisie came out of the building alone, leaving the offices in darkness and I scooted back to the hired car. She drove back towards the area we lived and I followed. She drove through into the town centre and parked by the only decent restaurant there and went inside. I thought about going up to the window and peering in, but didn't want to be recognised by anyone, so I waited. She left alone after about ninety minutes and went home. I drove back to the conference centre and had a late light meal and went to bed.

Friday morning I got a call from Adrienne that her STD tests came back negative, although the AIDS test would take up to three months. I checked that they came in a plain envelope and she confirmed that you couldn't identify where it had come from without opening it, so Maisie would probably think it was junk mail. I would have to wait until after Maisie left work to head for the conference centre, I couldn't risk the possibility that she would go home first.

Friday early evening I hung around the reception area, hiding behind a succession of large newspapers and kept an eye on the people coming in from the car park and registering. I was near enough to both see and hear them and checked each one off against their photos and names on the list. It was about seven in the evening that Maisie came in alone to check in. She didn't even glance in my direction. It was another half hour before Marshall-Hobbs put in an appearance.

Before he arrived, some of the photographic group came in, including Gordon. I helped them sign in, keeping an eye out, in case Maisie was about. Fortunately, I had never had much time for the snooty people at the bank and, although I did go to some bank functions, they were mainly populated by local branch members. I really didn't know any of the regional staff shown on the bank list.

I took Gordon up to my room and, as soon as he started unpacking his few changes of clothes, I asked him if he had had a chance to check for STDs. Yes, he had and the all-clear came through that day, which was a lot off his mind. He was still awaiting the Aids test results.

We had our evening meal sent up from room service and while we were eating we checked on the early results coming through the cameras. The results were very interesting and we picked up some hot video material for Max's web site before some bankers even went to dinner. Maisie and Marshall-Hobbs changed into their evening clothes in their separate rooms. I wondered if they had cooled their relationship?

The bankers, mostly already sorted into their pairs, were hardly disguising their relationships as they gathered in the bar and restaurant. Members of the camera club were snapping away, gathering both stills and video evidence.

Adrienne then called me to say she had just arrived in the car park, with her video camera and her laptop. I took her to the room she would be sharing with a couple of club members, to drop off her overnight bag, and took her to Max's suite, which was right next door to Marshall-Hobbs' suite. We went up the back stairs to avoid bumping into anyone. I was sure that Marshall-Hobbs wouldn't know me from Adam and Adrienne had no connection with the bank, so there was little risk involved. There was a slim chance I may have bumped into Maisie, if she had gone to Marshall-Hobbs' suite while I was showing Adrienne to our rooms, but she was nowhere to be seen.

During the evening, club members brought their cameras to Max's suite and downloaded their images. Adrienne starting putting together short films and connected stills from the early birds that had sex before dinner. Max took the DVDs and started uploading the finished movies and advertising trailers to his website, and set up referral links from other sites. It was fascinating seeing him work. All the new images and videos he was loading up was generating a lot of interest and he showed me the log counters and the money rolling in. Apparently the Internet world never sleeps and money was already flowing in as US dollars. Max's teeth had never had so much exposure as long as this! So, we declared Operation Bang well and truly under way.

[to be continued]